The best of a bad situation

I like lemons, so I never thought that if someone gave me a lemon that it was a bad thing. I also like lemonade. So, it’s all good.

Well ...

Take a look at Oregon Twp. Most residents there wanted to maintain the rural character of the community. Not a bad thing. Then one developer wanted to put in a mobile home park. Another wanted condos. Since the township can’t ban them, they worked out a compromise.

It’s likely that some who oppose the recent Interlocal Agreement that the Oregon Twp. board worked out with the City of Lapeer are ready to run door-to-door right away with a petition to get it on the ballot and to show those developers that they can’t push “us” around.

Some may think that would somehow protect the township from the “evils” of development. It’s too late for that. The court-ordered consent agreement with the developers is a done deal. It can’t be undone.

Like it or not, development is coming to that corner of the township.

What the Oregon board has crafted, with a generous neighborly assist from the City of Lapeer, will do a whole lot more to ensure that the rest of the township can maintain its rural character and likely protect it — at least for the next 25 years.

Honoring 9-11 Looking at the World Trade Day tribute on the Historic Courthouse lawn on Tuesday left me saddened on a couple of counts. It’s obvious that the horrors of 9-11 and the lives lost are worthy of a sad but respectful tribute. But as I visited many of the afternoon events, I was also saddened at the sparse crowd. Sadder still to think that maybe we’ve become too cynical to lend our efforts to something as simple and honest as promoting peace.

Full disclosure I was elected Tuesday to the village council in North Branch. I was appointed to fill a trustee spot long before I joined the staff of the LA VIEW. I later placed my name on the ballot to continue to do my civic duty and serve on the council as I have for nine of the last 12 years in the community where I’ve lived for 25 years. In the two years that I have worked at the LA VIEW, I have not written anything about the village government or covered any of its meetings. To be fair, I intend to continue that practice.